South Carolina Basketball: Ranking the best head coaches in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Basketball’s No. 2 Greatest Head Coach of All-Time:
Frank Martin
Some Gamecock basketball fans are still a little upset with the way things ended for Frank Martin (2012-2022) in Columbia, but with some objectivity, one can see that the fiery Martin was the second-best coach ever to lead the South Carolina basketball program.
After taking over a sinking ship from Darrin Horn, Martin took two seasons to bring the Gamecocks back to a winning season, but he then strung together six-straight winning campaigns. The 2015-2016 season was Martin’s first great team, but the 25-9 Gamecocks became one of the biggest NCAA Tournament snubs in college basketball history.
That wouldn’t happen twice.
The next season saw the Gamecocks win 12 games in the SEC (second-best mark in team history) and go a remarkable 26-11 on the way to the Final Four. The Final Four run was one of the most magical stretches in the 125+ years of South Carolina athletics, and, if not for Sindarius Thornwell getting the flu, the Gamecocks likely beat Gonzaga for a chance to play North Carolina for the title. Instead, USC lost by four to end the best season in South Carolina basketball history.
Unfortunately, that was the only season Martin would lead the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament. One snub and several popped bubbles were as close as Martin could get to the Tourney other than the one tremendous season, and he was let go in what became a messy breakup. He is now the head coach of the UMass Minutemen.